Franklin Elementary School (Kirkland, Washington) Explained

Ben Franklin Elementary
Street:12434 NE 60th St
City:Kirkland
Zipcode:98033
Country:United States
Coordinates:47.6619°N -122.1732°W
Established:1967
Principal:Keith Buechler
Grades:K-5
Enrollment:480
Enrollment As Of:2024
Ratio:15:1
Mascot:Eagle
Feeder To:

Benjamin Franklin Elementary School is an elementary school located in the Bridle Trails neighborhood in Kirkland, Washington. It is located across the street from Bridle Trails State Park. The school serves students from K through 5th grade as part of the Lake Washington School District. It is a feeder school to Rose Hill Middle School in Redmond, Washington and Lake Washington High School.

History and facilities

Franklin Elementary school was originally designed by local architects Cummings & Martenson, who also designed many area municipality buildings, medical facilities, and churches, the YMCA, several buildings on the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, and many other local elementary schools. It was built in 1967.[1]

In 2004, Mahlum Architects designed new facilities for the school. It was built and opened in 2005.[2] [3] In 2006, The Committee on the Environment of American Institute of Architects awarded the new school as one of its Top Ten Green Buildings. It also received a merit award from the Seattle chapter.[4] The new building used sustainable design practices such as excess Carbon dioxide removal through automated fresh air intake, daylighting, a stormwater management system, waterless urinals, and small learning environments.[5] [6] The redesigned school has been a case study in architectural and educational design.[7] [8] [9]

In 2012, the school was converted from K-6 to K-5 with the district's change from junior and senior high schools to middle schools and four-year high schools.[10]

Franklin Elementary was recognized by King County for its participation in the Green Schools program in 2013 for its conservation and recycling efforts.[11]

In 2014, Symetra and the Seattle Seahawks honored Kindergarten teacher Emily Morgan with a Symetra Heroes in the Classroom award.[12] In 2018, choir teacher Shawna Sandstrom received the same honor.[13]

In 2022, the elementary school hosted a launch of former student's project to educate its students about the Internment of Japanese Americans. The Tesla STEM High School student, Kai Vanderlip, worked with Franklin Elementary's librarian Leann Clawson to found the Day of Remembrance Japanese Incarceration Literature for Libraries.[14] [15] The school was granted an inclusive libraries grant in the months that followed.[16] Japanese artist Alice Van Leunen's 1989 Mingei Crazy Quilt made of hand-printed Chiyogami paper hangs in the library.[17]

Academics and demographics

Franklin Elementary ranked #208 of Washington elementary schools in 2024. It has a 63% minority enrollment.[18]

QUEST Program

In 1985, Washington State Legislature enacted a law requiring schools to provide equitable program for students identified as highly capable, or gifted.[19] [20] Students are identified as having "exceptional cognitive and academic ability."[21] Programs are required to provide accelerated instruction, activities, and services to students without removing them from their peer environments, which involves after-school programs or moving identified students into the grade ahead through mixed-grade classrooms.[22] [23] [24] Brigitte Tennis, a teacher in the QUEST program until 2000, was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in 2015.[25] [26] [27]

Franklin Elementary's highly capable program, the QUEST program, which had 91 students enrolled in 2014[28] began when the law was enacted.[29] [30] In 1999, 11 out of 19 fifth-grade QUEST students won national writing awards out of 115 entries.[31] In 2016, the district ended the program at Franklin Elementary, forcing students identified as highly capable to relocate to elementary schools outside of their attendance area.[32] Parents started a petition in response to news of the closure, but the district informed them that there was no longer enough space in the school to accommodate the program.

Extracurricular activities

Franklin Elementary students can participate in Eagle Leaders, a student leadership program, the Safety Patrol Officers program, the Green Team (conservation and sustainability club), and Rainbow club, a LGBT community that promotes anti-bullying.[33]

Space Eagles

In 1985, teacher Carolyn Carpp, the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Ninety-Nines (an international organization of women pilots), began the Young Astronauts program at Franklin Elementary.[34] The program was administered by NASA through a national program established by the White House Office.[35] [36] [37] The club, for grades 3-6, participated in the Pacific Science Center's AstroAdventures, an astronomy curriculum through a NASA grant for grades 3-12. From 1987 through 2000, the program included a yearly overnight "camp-in" at the science center and space-themed workshops. Booth Gardner, the governor, proclaimed the week of March 12–18 to be Young Astronaut Week in 1989 when Carpp orchestrated the creation of the Puget Sound Council of Young Astronauts to bring the area's clubs together for the annual camp-in.[38] For her work on the Young Astronauts program, Carrp won an Aerospace Education Award from the Washington Wing Civil Air Patrol in 1989.[39]

In 2000, the club focused on aviation and aerospace and it was renamed to the Young Aviators. It incorporated the Young Eagles curriculum from the Experimental Aircraft Association. Club members visited McChord Field and the Museum of Flight. By 2008, Carpp had given over 300 students their first flights through the club.[40]

Notable alumni

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor[41]

References

  1. Web site: Cummings, Harry L. Jr. . 2024-05-18 . Docomomo Wewa . en-US.
  2. Web site: Benjamin Franklin Elementary, Kirkland, WA Discover Design: A student design experience . 2024-05-18 . archive.discoverdesign.org.
  3. News: REIFERT . BUTCH . August 31, 2006 . Does your school building make the grade? . Daily Journal of Commerece.
  4. Web site: PCAD - Lake Washington School District #414, Franklin, Benjamin, Elementary School, Redmond, WA . 2024-05-18 . pcad.lib.washington.edu.
  5. Web site: Ben Franklin Elementary moves into new building Madison Park Times . 2024-05-18 . madisonparktimes.com.
  6. Web site: Ben Franklin Elementary School . 2024-05-18 . www.aiatopten.org . en.
  7. Book: Harwood, Pamela . Charter School Patterns of Innovation: A New Architecture for a New Education . Hudson . John . Van Soest . Matthew . Ball State University . 2008.
  8. Zande . Robin Vande . 2010 . Teaching Design Education for Cultural, Pedagogical, and Economic Aims . Studies in Art Education . 51 . 3 . 248–261 . 0039-3541.
  9. Ehrlich Schwartz . Ester . 2013 . Architecture as Pedagogy: Designing Sustainable Schools as Three-Dimensional Textbooks . University of Tennessee.
  10. News: Whitely . Peyton . August 16, 2011 . New state-of-the-art Lake Washington High School nearly complete . Kirkland Reporter.
  11. Web site: May 2013 . Success story: Benjamin Franklin Elementary School . kingcounty.gov.
  12. Web site: 2014-09-25 . Ben Franklin Elementary School teacher honored as ‘Symetra Hero in the Classroom’ . 2024-05-18 . Kirkland Reporter . en-US.
  13. Web site: McSweeney . Diana . 2018-11-30 . Ben Franklin Teacher Named 'Symetra Hero in the Classroom' . 2024-05-18 . Patch . en.
  14. Web site: Cabahug . Jadenne Radoc . 2022-04-25 . A project is teaching the history of Japanese incarceration to elementary students through children’s books . 2024-05-18 . International Examiner . en-US.
  15. Web site: Macdonald . Moira . 2022-03-27 . This Redmond teen wants elementary schools to have books about the incarceration of Japanese Americans . 2024-05-18 . The Seattle Times . en-US.
  16. Web site: 2022-05-30 . Franklin Elementary Benefits from Inclusive Libraries Grant Lake Washington Schools Foundation . 2024-05-18 . lwsf.org . en-US.
  17. Web site: Artwork . 2024-05-18 . ArtsWA . en-US.
  18. Web site: 2024 . Franklin Elementary . U.S. News.
  19. Web site: Chapter 28A.185 RCW: HIGHLY CAPABLE STUDENTS . 2024-05-18 . apps.leg.wa.gov.
  20. Web site: Guerrero . Rafael . 2016-01-13 . Students in Highly Capable program gifted, but not perfect . 2024-05-18 . Yakima Herald-Republic . en.
  21. Web site: Pak . Samantha . 2016-05-06 . LWSD closes Quest program at Franklin, some students to enroll at Redmond Elementary next year . 2024-05-18 . Redmond Reporter . en-US.
  22. Web site: Highly Capable Program . 2024-05-18 . ospi.k12.wa.us . en.
  23. Sork Gehlhausen . Cathy Ann . 2012 . Evolution of Elementary Highly Capable Programs in the Era of NCLB: A Comparison of Three School Districts . Washington State University.
  24. Web site: 2020 . Continuous Learning 2020 . Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instructioon.
  25. Web site: Konopasek . Michael . 2015-04-15 . Eastside teacher to be inducted into National Teacher Hall of Fame . 2024-06-06 . KING 5 . en-US.
  26. Web site: September 8, 2018 . Nationally recognized educator Brigitte Tennis of Washington . 2024-06-06 . chalkboardchampions.org.
  27. Book: Fried, Katrina . American teacher: heroes in the classroom . 2013 . Welcome Books . 978-1-59962-127-2 . New York.
  28. Web site: Martinell . TJ . 2014-12-22 . Parents of Kirkland students fight boundary adjustment by LWSD . 2024-05-18 . Kirkland Reporter . en-US.
  29. Web site: 2024-05-08 . Elementary Highly Capable Services . 2024-05-18 . www.lwsd.org . en-US.
  30. Web site: 2024-05-08 . Accelerated Programs - Lake Washington School District . 2024-05-18 . www.lwsd.org . en-US.
  31. Web site: Dillon . Naomi . February 19, 1999 . Teacher's American Dream Is Inspiration -- Greek-Born Instructor's Lessons In Tolerance Produce Essay Winners The Seattle Times . 2024-05-18 . archive.seattletimes.com.
  32. Web site: 2016-05-06 . QUEST program to close at Ben Franklin Elementary, parents opposed . 2024-05-18 . Kirkland Reporter . en-US.
  33. Web site: Activities - Franklin Elementary School . 2024-05-18 . franklin.lwsd.org . en-US.
  34. News: Carpp . Carolyn . May 2000 . Aviation Education . International Women Pilots/99 News . 9.
  35. News: Anderson . Jack . van Atta . Dale . October 18, 1987 . YOUNG ASTRONAUT PLAN SPREADS WINGS . 2024-05-18 . Washington Post . en-US . 0190-8286.
  36. Franknoi . Andrew . 1995 . National Astronomy Education Projects: A Catalog . Astronomy education: current developments, future coordination Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series . Astronomical Society of the Pacific . 89 . Proceedings of an ASP symposium held in College Park, MD, 24-25 June 1994, San Francisco . 303-306.
  37. Book: McCormick, Susan . The ASTC Science Center Survey Education Report and Directory . National Science Foundation/Association of Science-Technology Centers . 1988 . 0-944040-15-2.
  38. News: June 1989 . Unique 'camp-in' brings large, enthusiastic crowd of Young Astronauts for a weekend of science and sleeping bags . Ninety-Nine News . 13-14.
  39. Book: Baker, Eleanor . WASHINGTON WING CIVIL AIR PATROL AWARDS BOOK AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION 1941-2012 . Lundstrom-Weiss . Evelyn . Long . Don . Heiz . Dick . 2012 . United States Air Force Auxiliary.
  40. Web site: Response: The Seattle Pacific University Magazine . 2024-05-19 . spu.edu.
  41. Web site: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Keynote Speaker AAE Speakers Bureau . 2024-05-18 . www.aaespeakers.com.

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